Shadows of the Past
by Jacksonator3000
Summary: The Santa Clause. When twin teenage girls show up at the North Pole, will one of them be able to help Bernard overcome his past? Rating may go up later. Better summary inside. BernardOC
1. Prologue

A/N: I'm trying to time this right so Christmas in the story will match up with Christmas in real life. I don't know if it will work out though.

Summary: Twin teenage girls show up at the North Pole. One is a logical thinker who doesn't believe any of it. The other is a creative thinker who refuses to grow up. What happens when the latter tries to befriend Bernard? Will she be able to help him let go of his past and open up? BernardOC CurtisOC

**Prologue**

The building blazed with fire. Brooke Stapelton watched in horror as her home was destroyed, along with her parents. She felt a firm hand on her shoulder and turned to see her twin sister Sophia. They were fraternal twins and didn't look anything alike. They had different personalities as well.

"We have to leave," Sophia whispered.

Brooke shook her head in defiance. "No," she said in the same soft voice. "I'm not leaving them."

Sophia let out a heavy sigh. "They're gone, Brooke. And we don't have any other family. There's nothing left for us here."

Brooke hated to admit it, but her sister was right. The thought of leaving the home she always knew pained her. But staying would be useless. Nothing could ever be the same again. "Where will we go?" she asked, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"I don't know," Sophia admitted sadly. "We just have to go far away from here. They'll be after us." He turned around. "Come on. Let's go."

Brooke nodded slowly. She took one last glance at the house she once knew and love. With a heavy heart, she followed her sister into the unknown.


	2. Bad Day

Chapter 1: Bad Day

Bernard paced along the top level of Santa's workshop, surveying the elves working below him. It was the beginning of November, an all the elves were working hard to meet the Christmas deadline. Bernard let out a sigh. They were pushed for time this year. There was a chance they wouldn't make it.

"Bernard!"

Bernard rolled his eyes irritably as he turned to see Curtis running towards him. He folded his arms and gave him an annoyed look. "What is it now, Curtis?" he asked.

"I need you t help me sort the Christmas letters," Curtis panted. He leaned over as he caught his breath.

Bernard simply nodded. "Ok, let's go." He briskly followed Curtis to the room the letters were in.

Bernard found the letters and quickly got to work. It was a tedious job, but one that had to be done. The head elf mindlessly sorted the letters. He accidently bumped his companion beside him.

Curtis let out a squeal. "Hey!" Before Bernard had time to register what had happened, Curtis roughly pushed him back. Bernard shot a glare at the young elf. He put his work down and advanced towards Curtis. Curtis gulped and ran away. He tripped over a toy on the floor and turned around to see Bernard looming over him. "You're just mad about what happened a thousand years ago," Curtis said nervously.

Bernard took a step back; startled that Curtis would mention his past. He glared at the elf after getting rid of the shock. "You weren't even _alive _a thousand years ago," he spat.

A sly grin spread across Curtis's face. "That doesn't mean I don't know," he went on. "I know what happened, Bernard. How could I forget?"

Blazing with anger, Bernard lifted Curtis up by his shirt. Curtis's eyes widened in shock. Bernard couldn't believe that he was brave enough to go there. "Don't _ever _mention my past again, unless you have a death wish," Bernard threatened. With that, he let go of Curtis and promptly left the room.

"But I need help!" Curtis called after him.

Bernard ignored the younger elf's cry. He stormed around the work shop, pushing away anyone that got in his way.

_Where is the moment we needed the most__  
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost__  
They tell me your blue skies fade to gray__  
They tell me your passion's gone away__  
And I don't need no carryin' on_

Bernard leaned on the balcony overlooking the rest of the workshop. He let out a long sigh. Curtis had brought back painful memories he would do anything to forget.

_You stand in the line just to hit a new low  
__You're faking a smile with the coffee you go__  
You tell me your life's been way off line__  
You're falling to pieces every time__  
And I don't need no carryin' on_

Bernard walked into the room with the radar equipment. "It's still broken," an elf informed him.

"Ok," Bernard said with a nod. "Just try to get it fixed soon."

Bernard turned away from the startled face of the elf and walked out. Normally he would be a lot more frantic at a time like this, but his heart just wasn't in it right now.

_Because you had a bad day__  
You're taking one down  
__You sing a sad song just to turn it around  
__You say you don't know__  
You tell me don't lie__  
You work at a smile and you go for a ride  
__You had a bad day__  
The camera don't lie__  
You're coming back down and you really don't mind  
__You had a bad day__  
You had a bad day_

Bernard trudged into his room. He sat down on his bed and sighed. Pretty soon Judy walked in, carrying a cup of hot Cocoa.

"Hi Bernard," she said softly. "You seemed upset. Do you want some cocoa?"

Bernard shook his head wearily. "No thanks, Judy. I'm fine," he said, faking a smile. Judy nodded before leaving. But Bernard was sure she wasn't convinced.

_Will you need a blue sky holiday?  
__The point is they laugh at what you say__  
And I don't need no carryin' on_

Bernard walked out of his room. He walked right past Scott Calvin, or Santa Claus, despite his friendly greeting.

_So where is the passion when you need it the most__  
Oh you and I__  
You__ kick up the leaves and the magic is lost_

Bernard walked straight outside. He shivered slightly at the change of temperature. He looked around at the vast white landscape.

_Cause you had a bad day  
__You're taking one down  
__You sing a sad song just to turn it around__  
You say you don't know__  
You tell me don't lie__  
You work at a smile and you go for a ride__  
You had a bad day  
__You've seen what you like  
__And how does it feel for one more time__  
You had a bad day__  
You had a bad day_

Bernard scanned the ground again. He gasped when he saw two figures in the distance. His immediate reaction was that they were intruders. Angrily, he ran towards them, cursing the broken radar system under his breath. He skidded to the halt when he saw who the intruders were. They were two teenage girls. Probably not more than 16 or 17-years old. One had short, brown, wavy hair. The other had long, blond hair. They were both crawling along the snow. They looked tired and out of breath. They collapsed in front of Bernard.

"H-help… us…" the brown-haired one said before going unconscious. The other girl quickly lost consciousness as well.

Bernard frantically began to search for a solution. He knew the girls would die if he just left them there. But he was sure he couldn't carry both of them on his own. Think quickly, he raced back inside the workshop. He looked around for the elf he had gotten mad at earlier. He found him in the room he had deserted, still going through the mail.

"Curtis!" he gasped.

Curtis looked surprise to see Bernard. That surprise quickly turned to anger. "Bernard!" he exclaimed. "Come and help me finish this!"

Bernard waved him away. "Not now. I need your help!"

Curtis rolled his eyes. Bernard irritably waited for his response. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait. Now just-" Curtis was cut off by Bernard.

"There are two unconscious girls outside freezing to death!" he exclaimed, getting it all out in one breath.

Curtis's eyes widened. "Then what are we waiting for? Come on!" The elf raced past Bernard, who followed him out into the cold.


	3. Here to Stay?

Chapter 2: Here to Stay?

Brooke blinked her eyes open. The first thing she saw was a young boy staring at her. She sat up in alarm. She felt someone sit up beside her. He turned to see her sister and held onto her tightly.

"Hey, they're awake!" the boy cried.

"What's going on?" Brooke whispered fearfully.

"I don't know," Sophia said with a shake of her head. "Where could we be?"

Two more people ran to their side. One of them was a man with a long beard and red overalls. The other was a young man with brown curly hair and a dark green hat who didn't look much older than the girls. He had a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Are you guys alright?" Scott Calvin asked them gently.

"That depends on what you mean by alright," Sophia replied sarcastically. "And where we are."

Brooke glanced from Bernard and Curtis to Scott. "Hey! I know where we are!" she exclaimed suddenly. "We're in Santa's workshop!" She pointed at Scott. "You're Santa! And you two are elves!" She turned to Curtis and Bernard.

"I like this girl, she's smart," Curtis commented. Bernard nodded in agreement.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sophia cut in, waving her arms in distress. "We are _not _in Santa's workshop because there is no such thing as Santa!"

Bernard rolled his eyes. "Typical," he muttered. "No sane teenager still believes in Santa Claus."

"Hey!" Brooke exclaimed in protest. Bernard raised his eyebrows at her, but did not offer an apology. Brooke rolled her eyes in response. Bernard chuckled softly to himself.

"Well, I'm sorry to say, I am in fact Santa Claus," Scott said. "This is my Head Elf, Bernard, and the Second Elf, Curtis." Bernard and Curtis each nodded in turn.

"Nice to meet you guys!" Brooke said cheerfully. "I'm Brooke, and this is my sister, Sophia."

"Nice to meet you guys too," Curtis said with a smile.

"Excuse me, but is this a joke?" Sophia asked, a little calmer this time. "This is a joke, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid not," Bernard said, shaking his head.

"How about we forget about that for now and you two tell us what you're doing all the way out here?" Scott suggested.

Sophia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Brooke took a deep breath before replying for the both of them. "We come from Minnesota, so it really wasn't that far." She let out a sigh. "Our parents just died… in a fire. They're all we really had left. We don't have any more living relatives. There was nothing left for us there." She looked down and wiped her eyes with her arm. She felt her sister put her arm around her. When she looked up she got Bernard's eye. His face was full of sympathy. Brooke took another deep breath. "We had to leave. We couldn't let them put us in an orphanage. They would be sure to separate us! Besides, we've already been through that… when we were six."

"You see, our birth parents died in a car crash," Sophia explained for her. Brooke blinked at her gratefully. "It's lucky we weren't with them."

"So, why did you come to the North Pole?" Bernard asked softly.

"We didn't know where else to go," Brooke went on. "They could still find us if we went anywhere else in the continent. And we couldn't risk going overseas…"

"So I decided we should come here," Sophia explained. "I had a crazy idea that we could build our own place here, away from everyone, like you sometimes see in movies." She shook her head, chuckling softly. "I never imagined someone else could already be living here."

"You won't send us back, will you?" Brooke asked, a hint of fear in her voice. She looked up at Scott hopefully.

Scott let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "I'll have to think it over. Bernard, can you show them to a room?"

"Sure," Bernard agreed with a brisk nod. He looked at the twins. "Come with me, girls."

Brooke and Sophia stood up and briskly followed Bernard out of the room. Bernard looked around in awe as she saw many elves busily making toys. "Look, Sophia!" she squealed in delight. "This _is _Santa's workshop!"

Sophia just rolled her eyes. "It's all an allusion," she mumbled.

Brooke looked up at Bernard, who shrugged in return. He eventually led them into a large room. The whole room was covered in red, like the previous one was. There was a queen bed on the far wall. Opposite it was a balcony.

"This place looks great!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Are you always this cheerful?" Bernard asked with amusement.

"Usually," Brooke said with a shrug.

"It can get really annoying," Sophia added. Her sister shot her a look.

"Why don't you two get settled her," Bernard said. "I'll send an elf to get you some pajamas and food. I have to go back and talk with Santa."

"Ok," Brooke said with a nod. "See you soon!"

Bernard smiled warmly at the girl. "Goodbye, Brooke," he said before leaving the room.

When he was gone, Brooke immediately turned to Sophia. "I like him," she commented.

"You would," Sophia said, rolling her eyes.

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Brooke questioned suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Sophia said innocently.

Brooke wasn't convinced, but she didn't push the water. She walked out tot e balcony and gazed out at the city. "This place sure is beautiful," she murmured.

* * *

"What do you think, should they stay?" Scott asked the small group consisting of Carol, Bernard, and Curtis.

"They've come all this way, I don't think it would be fair to just send them back," Carol said.

"But what are we going to do with them? Humans don't belong here!" Curtis pointed out. "Besides you two," he added, referring to Scott and his wife.

"So what? They seem like nice girls," Bernard put in. "At least Brooke does. I can't say much for Sophia."

"But what will we do with them?" Scott inquired. It was a fair enough question.

"They could work here," Curtis suggested, shrugging.

"We do need more workers," Bernard continued. "I was already thinking about going down and recruiting more elves. This could be the perfect opportunity. Everyone wins."

"I don't know…" Scott trailed off.

"They want to stay," Curtis reminded him.

"Let them stay, at least for now," Carol said.

Scott let out a heavy sigh. "All right," he said at last. "They can stay."


	4. Finding Jobs

A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but I've been very busy. School is harder this year and I'm taking an AP class. So when I'm not working (I have a job) or doing homework, I'm taking the time to relax. If I didn't I'd go crazy.But the semester is over now, so I've had some free time. Don't be surprised if I don't update again in a while. I'll do the best I can. I made this chapter a little longer to make up for it.

Chapter 3: Finding Jobs

"And that completes the end of the tour. And questions?" Bernard asked patiently. He was standing in the North Pole city, right outside Santa's workshop. He had just given a tour to Brooke and Sophia. He found it very tiring, but he forced himself to be in a cheerfully mood. Brooke's hand immediately shot up. Bernard forced himself not to roll his eyes. "You don't have to raise your hand. This isn't school."

"Is there a school?" Sophia inquired.

"Hey! I asked first!" Brooke exclaimed.

Bernard sighed. These two had been arguing the whole tour. You'd think there was a significant age difference. What annoyed Bernard the most was that Sophia still couldn't accept what was happening to her. Her "logical explanations" were ridiculous. At least to him. Brooke wasn't as bad. But she kept asking questions. She was quite curious for her age.

The elf looked from Sophia to Brooke, deciding which question to ask first. He decided on Sophia since he didn't know what Brooke's question was. He had also figured out that Brooke was the more forgiving of the too. "There is a schooling system," he began, looking at Sophia. He ignored Brooke, who crossed her arms angrily. "It's equivalent to your idea of home schooling. Classes start at three. I'll take you there when the time comes."

"Can you answer my question now?" Brooke asked impatiently.

Bernard let out a sigh. "Yes, Brooke. What is it?"

"Is there a church here?" Brooke asked simply.

Bernard was a bit taken back by her question. A church? That's the last thing he expected her to ask. He didn't know these girls were religious. Seeing his confusion, Brooke pulled out a wooden cross from under her shirt that was around her neck.

"We don't _need _a church," Sophia said, rolling her eyes.

Brooke frowned. "Hey, just because you think religion is bogus doesn't mean I do."

Bernard found himself corrected. Only one of them was Christian. And this gave them another thing to argue about. "Yes, there's a church," Bernard finally said. "I'll show it to you later.

"Why not now?" Brooke asked in confusion.

"Because I don't want to," Sophia said with another roll of her eyes.

"That and we need to find jobs for you two," Bernard explained.

"Jobs for what?" Brooke asked.

"We're a little short on elves this year, so as long as you two are here, you might as well help us out," Bernard said. "Now follow me."

Bernard led the twins back inside the workshop. They were soon met by Curtis. "Are they ready to be assigned?" he asked Bernard, who nodded in return. Curtis looked at Brooke and Sophia. "Ok, what are you two good at?"

Sophia rolled her eyes. "This is so stupid."

"Well, I'm very creative," Brooke began. "Anything artistic would do for me. And Sophia is smart."

"How about inventing things?" Curtis suggested.

"That could work," Brooke said with a nod. "What about me?"

"You can think of ideas for new toys," Bernard replied. Brooke smiled at this. He couldn't help but smile back. This one wasn't so bad.

"Ok, Sophia, you come with me. Brooke, you can go with Bernard," Curtis decided.

"Hey, I give the orders around here!" Bernard said in annoyance.

Curtis rolled his eyes. "Fine. What do you suggest we do."

Bernard turned to Sophia and Brooke. "Sophia, go with Curtis and Brooke, come with me," he said. This caused Curtis to roll his eyes. Bernard shot him a look.

* * *

"This is where you'll be working," Bernard said. He and Brooke were in a small room. There were a few elves working around a rectangular table. 

"This looks great!" Brooke said happily.

Bernard smiled slightly. "Good. I'm gonna leave you now to go check up on Curtis and your sister."

Before he had a chance to leave, Brooke turned to him and hugged him. Bernard flinched in surprise. He didn't know how to respond. He hadn't been hugged in literally hundreds of years. Who did this girl think she was? She was making him feel… warm? Happy? It was all very confusing.

"Thanks," Brooke whispered, sill hugging him.

Bernard awkwardly hugged her back. "Er, you're welcome," he said.

Brooke pulled away and smiled. "Bye!" she said before sitting down at the table. Bernard walked out of the room and sighed. What was he ever going to do with her?

* * *

Bernard walked into a large area of the workshop. He found Curtis and Sophia quarrelling. It reminded him a lot like when she would fight with Brooke. Maybe it was just Sophia. But then again, Curtis would argue with him too. Anyway, it was irritating just the same. 

"I told you! That's impossible!" Sophia was saying.

"How many times do I have to tell you? This place is _magic!_" Curtis exclaimed.

"There's no such thing as magic!" Sophia retorted.

Curtis let out a loud groan. "Just do your job!"

"I'll do my job once it's logical," Sophia said matter-of-factly.

"IS there a problem?" Bernard interrupted.

For once, Curtis looked relieved to see him. "Bernard! Sophia won't do her job," he said, pointing to her.

Sophia rolled her eyes. "My job doesn't make any sense."

"I know, I heard," Bernard said sharply. "If this is too much for you, you're just going to have work making toys. Curtis, show her what to do. Once you do, find me. I'm calling a meeting with Santa."

* * *

"We still don't have enough workers, even with Sophia and Brooke?" Scott inquired. He was in his office with Bernard and Curtis. 

Bernard sighed, nodding. "I'm afraid so. The only thing we can do is go to an elf village and recruit more workers."

"You're probably right," Curtis said in defeat. "Which village is next on the list?"

Scott opened his drawer and pulled out a long list. She scanned the list until he found what he wanted. "Here it is," he said. "Cardin."

Bernard's eyes widened. That name brought back painful memories. He gritted his teeth and held his head with his hands, trying to push the thoughts away.

FLASHBACK

A young elf stood at the edge of a village. Destruction was apparent. All the trees were burned or fallen down. Houses had caved in. Elves were looking around in dismay. Babies were crying.

The young elf gasped in horror. He back away until he bumped into someone. He swerved around to see a taller, older elf towering over him. He grinned, showing his teeth. The young elf gasped again.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Are you ok?" Scott asked his head elf, worry in his voice.

Bernard shook his head, his mind finally clearing. "We cann_ot _go to Cardin!" he insisted.

"Why not?" Scott asked in confusion.

"He had a bad experience there," Curtis explained. Bernard shot him a glare.

Scott sighed. "But we can't just skip them. It wouldn't be right. You'd have to go there sooner or later, Bernard. And since we need more workers, sooner is better."

"Fine!" Bernard said with a sigh, finally giving in. "I'll go."

"Ok, both of you will leave tomorrow," Scott stated.


	5. Author's Note

I just wanted to let you guys know that I am planning on continuing this story soon. I don't know when that will be. I am a senior in high school and I'm extremely busy. You can expect on update before Christmas.


End file.
